[Ohio-talk] Pertinent Recommendations from the OOD CSNA Final Report

[Smith, JW]

Dear NFB of Ohio Family, Friends, and Colleagues,

I know this is a holiday time for us, but I want to draw your attention to three of the recommendations from the OOD CSNA Final Report. We had a presentation about this report and these recommendations at our November 14th SRC meeting, and I just thought that the three that I am listing here are most important to us. As you might expect, it was admitted to us in the presentation on November 14th, that the population that OOD felt presented them with the most challenges to date was the Blind and Visually Impaired community. The acting BSVI Director admitted that this was a concern and that in the future he hoped to address it. I am listing the first three recommendations from the report itself, but please pay special attention to the first one.


1.       Increase outreach to individuals with hearing and visual impairments to increase services to these populations. As a result of recommendations made my Governor Kasich's Workforce Integration Taskforce, OOD has implemented a number of programs to expand services to individuals with hearing and visual impairments in the last three years. However, service rate: need ratios and balance ratios still highlight the need for additional engagement with these populations. OOD should engage the Community Centers for the Deaf, Sigh Centers, and other organizations focused on serving individuals with hearing and visual impairments to identify additional opportunities in this regard.

2.       Explore opportunities to expand access to assistive technology resources to support individuals with disabilities to be more independent. OOD should consider allocation of resources for assistive technology resources for individuals with disabilities, particularly those disabilities with a lower service rate: need ratio (e.g. hearing, visual, and physical impairments). This could include expansion of BlindSquare installations at appropriate locations throughout the state and other resource allocations to support Ohio's Technology First Initiative.

3.       Explore the potential causes of service deficits in counties with low balance ratios to identify strategies that might provide greater service delivery rates in those areas. The balance ratio analysis highlighted a number of counties with very low balance ratios, particularly with regard to services for individuals with communicative, hearing, physical, and visual impairments. OOD should explore the causes behind these service deficits and devise strategies to enhance service delivery where needed.
I want to further point out that I served on that Governor Kasich Taskforce and we keep coming up with these recommendations and I know you join me in hoping that OOD will not only take them seriously, but will continue to find effective ways to address many of our concerns .I could not help but to ask the presenter what was meant by the word "engage" as listed in recommendation #1. I still do not know what that means, but I DO know that we have got to make more positive progress in the area of service delivery to blind and visually impaired Ohioans. I am not expecting you to read the entire 130+ pages of the report (which can be found at https://ood.ohio.gov/BVR-BSVI/Comprehensive-Statewide-Needs-Assessment-2018/Section-I-Introduction/Content-of-the-Needs-Assessment-Report), but I do think we need to pay close attention to these three recommendations from the report. Finally, I believe that this only makes it even clearer why we need to be on the council and present at the table for these reports and conversations.


jw

Dr. jw Smith
School of Communication Studies
Scripps College of Communication
Ohio University
Schoonover Center
20 E. Union St,
Athens, OH 45701
smithj at ohio.edu<mailto:smithj at ohio.edu>
T: 740-593-4838

One way to deal with the past is to change what you can...and can what you can't.

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